Union Climate Table.docx

Table 1: A Compilation of Union Actions on Climate Change

Category	Action	Examples of Unions with Sources
Legislative/Other ExternalAdvocacy	Greening Schools/Green New Deal for Public Schools	AFT: Greening Schools Campaign (as well as internal) NEA: Greening Schools Campaign; K12 Climate Action Plan; Support for: Green New Deal for Public Schools Act; Living Schoolyards Act; & Green Ribbon Act
Legislative/Other External Advocacy	OSHA Heat Standard Support/Advocacy	AFSCME: Statement after New Heat Standards Released SEIU: Public Comment Campaign; EJ Webinar on Heat Exposure USW: Heat Standard Endorsement
Legislative/Other External Advocacy	IRA Advocacy/Support	IBEW: Statement in Support of the IRA; Advocacy with SEIA SEIU: Statement on IRA
Legislative/Other Advocacy	General Policy Support	AFL-CIO: Act to Establish A Green New Deal for Maine; Texas Climate Jobs Project AFT: Federal Climate Legislation; THRIVE Act Support IBEW: Just Transition For Workers, Energy Tax Credits, Carbon Capture, Advanced Nuclear, & ROFR (state-level) Policy Brief; Building a 100% Clean Economy Testimony Before Subcommittee on Environment And Climate Change; Report with NRDC; Climate Union Jobs Act (Illinois); Local 3 Green Union Jobs Teamsters: Pulling out Support for ANWR; Support for TEMP Act UAW: General Support for GHG Emissions Rule USW: Anti-dumping Solar Support; EU Trade Negotiations SEIU: BPRA Endorsement (NY State);
Legislative/Other Advocacy	Broad Pension Divestment	AFSCME: Worked with CalPERS to develop policy on prioritizing green investment; Worked in Coalition to advocate for divestment of NYC Public Pension AFL-CIO: Statement on Pensions and Climate AFT: Campaign for Greening Pensions ;Worked in Coalition to advocate for divestment of NYC Public Pension (Locals 2 and 2334) NEA: resources for pensions and climate SEIU: Local 1021 Support for SF Pension Plan Divestment (see also here) Teamsters: Shareholder Advocacy regarding Marathon UFCW: Local 1994 Fossil Fuel Pension Divestment Campaign (see also here)
Legislative/Other Advocacy	Carbon Management Advocacy	USW: Partnership with CAA
Legislative/Other Advocacy	General Advocacy	Teamsters: ESG Research; Proposal on Just Transition Report for Climate Plan
Internal Campaigns, Actions, and Resources	General Internal Campaigns, Actions, and Resources	SEIU: Climate, Jobs, Justice Newsletter/summit: Newsletter Archive/Homepage; 2023 Summit (2022, 2023); Disaster Relief Letter/Fund/Manual NEA: Curricular Planning Resources for Educators; ECAN Network Member
Internal Campaigns, Actions, and Resources	Training Programs	AFT: Pathways to Green Collar Jobs IBEW: Green Training Centers SEIU: Green Janitor Program (see also); Caregiver Resilience Project UAW: CMGE Sparkz Training Program; $2 million from DOE ITAC
Internal Campaigns, Actions, and Resources	Building Emissions Reductions Campaigns	SEIU: Local 1991 Hospital Emissions Sustainability Plan (see also in Formal Labor Relations)
Internal Campaigns, Actions, and Resources	Climate/EJ Local Committees/Actions	SEIU: Local 1991, Local 503 Climate Justice committee; AFSCME Council 28 Webinar; Local 1021 Coal Terminal Resistance; Local 49 Green Janitor Program (also in training programs above) UFCW: Local 3000 Climate Justice Advisory Board
Internal Campaigns, Actions, and Resources	Resolutions on Climate Change/Related Topics	AFL-CIO: 2022 Resolution on Climate Change, Energy, and Union Jobs; 2013 Statement on Energy and Jobs AFSCME: 2024 Resolution in Support of Climate Change Action and Environmental Justice; 2018 Climate Change and Jobs Resolution; 2016 Divest from Carbon; Reinvest in People; 2016 Risk of Climate Change; 2010 Climate Change Action Plan AFT: 2024 Resolution on Decarbonizing Buildings through IRA Funds (Action Agenda); 2023 Resolution on Climate Emergency; 2022 Pension Fund Divestment; 2009 Resolution on Global Warming CWA: 2021 Resolution on Securing Labor Rights in the Climate Transition IBEW: 116th (2019) Congress Policy Priorities including CCUS & Advanced Nuclear NEA: 2022-2023 Resolution (Including Recognizing Global Climate Change) SEIU: 2019 Support for a GND; 2016 Resolution on Environmental Justice for Working People (Created Committee) Teamsters: 2011 Energy Green Jobs Resolution UAW: 4121 Climate Justice Working Group; Local 551 2014 Full Employment/Green Jobs
Formal Labor Relations	Green Industry Organizing and Wins	AFL-CIO: PLA between NABTU with Orsted for Offshore Wind IBEW: Clean Energy Organizing Campaign UAW: Big Three Settlement with gains to unionize battery/EV plants; $40 million EV organizing commitment; USW: Convalt Energy Settlement; US Wind Agreement
Formal Labor Relations	Adaptation for Workers	Teamsters: Won AC requirements for UPS Fleet
Formal Labor Relations	Mitigation Actions & Climate Related Bargaining Demands	AFT: Green Space on Campus; Free School Transportation for LI Students (CTU); SEIU: Local 26 Green Work Environment, Green Cleaning Initiative (see here for report) Green technician janitorial training program (see also here); Local 721 EIA Demand, Local 8 FF Subsidy Ban Demand, Local 8 Eco-Friendly Commuting Incentive; Local 8 Public Land to Community Gardens, Local 503 Incentivize Mass Transit; Building Emissions Reductions Campaigns: Local 1991 Hospital Emissions Sustainability Plan (see also in Labor Wins) UAW 2865: Increased Low-Carbon Transportation Subsidy
Coalition Membership	Blue Green Alliance	USW: Founding partner with Sierra Club
Coalition Membership	Climate Jobs National Resource Center (CJNRC)- State Coalitions	AFT: Municipal Employees Council 4, Texas AFT AFSCME: District 37 ATU: Local 281, 443, 1209, 1336, 714 AFL-CIO: Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington State SEIU: Local 2001, Connecticut State Council, 1199, Illinois State Council, Local 1989, Massachusetts State Council, 32BJ, 1199NE, Texas SEIU UAW: Local 6950, Region 9A, Region 8, Local 119, District 13 IBEW: Local 90, 488, IBEW Illinois State Council, Local 134, 6, 104, 490, 567, 1253, 2327, 103, 104, 3, 20, 72, 479, 520, 716, 46, 48, 73, 76, 112, 191 Teamsters: Local 251 IUE-CWA: Local 201 CWA: District 1, Texas CWA
Coalition Membership	Significant CJNRC State Coalition Wins	New York: 2019: State commitment to build 9,000 MWs of offshore wind under PLA 2021: Strong labor standards for renewable projects >5 MW 2022: Prevailing wage requirement for renewable energy projects >1MW 2023: Cap and invest program; NYPA Building Action Plan; Labor standards in the BPRA 2024: Expanding labor standards to protect renewable energy workers Connecticut: 2019: Strong labor standards for renewable projects >2 MW Maine: 2021: Requirement for offshore wind array to be built under a PLA 2022: Requirements for prevailing wages on projects >2 MW; Incentives for PLAs; Equity focused standards in training programs 2023: Offshore wind bill with strong labor standards. 2024: Leading voice in Mississippi renewable energy project to supply power to New England Grid and create union jobs. Illinois: 2021: Climate and Equitable Jobs Act 2023: Siting and Permitting Reform Bill Rhode Island: 2022: Requirements for strong labor standards on renewable energy projects >3 MW 2023: Requirements for strong labor standards on renewable energy projects >1 MW; Energy efficiency requirements for construction projects; Providence city council votes to become a Climate Jobs City; 2024: Providence City voted for a worker-centered municipal building ordinance with strong labor standards Texas: 2022: Requirements for strong labor standards for school construction projects 2024: Won a $249 million federal grant for a solar program with good-paying union jobs Maryland: 2023: State legislation for offshore wind with strong labor standards. Michigan: 2023: Clean Energy Future Plan & Clean Energy Jobs Act Wisconsin: 2024: State largest utilities pledged to hire local union worker for renewable energy projects Washington 2024: $25 million for green jobs and infrastructure grants

Note on Methods:

The included unions are: NEA, SEIU, AFT, AFSCME, Teamsters, UFCW, UAW, USW, IBEW, AFL-CIO, and CWA.

The four categories are roughly based on which audience was the target of the action.
As this report is primarily exploratory, the actions compiled are not exhaustive. The table presented vastly under describes the volume of climate action that unions take for several reasons. I only looked at a select number of unions, actions taken place in coalition are hard to attribute to a single union, agreements and deals happen behind closed doors, some actions are not (especially actions taken at the local level), and some actions are not explicitly climate related but have positive climate effects (such as incentivizing public transportation).